-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland , dubbed `` La Stupenda '' by opera lovers , died Sunday at age 83 in her home in Switzerland after a long illness .

In a career spanning the last half of the 1900s , Sutherland twice won a Grammy for best classical performer , in 1961 and 1981 .

Neil Portnow , president and CEO of the Recording Academy , described Sutherland as possessing `` an organic and elegant voice with astonishing range , vibrance and sense of drama . ''

`` Throughout her extraordinary four-decade career , she performed with such greats as Luciano Pavarotti and before audiences in opera houses across the globe . Her legacy lives on in the beautiful arias with which she graced the world , '' Portnow said in a written statement .

Her stage career began in 1951 in her native Sydney in a production of `` Judith '' by Eugene Goossens , according to a spokesman with her recording company , Decca Records . She signed with Decca in 1959 .

Over the next 30 years , she made 40 recordings of 33 operas , as well as operatic highlights , anthologies and collections ranging from baroque rarities to songs by Noel Coward , a personal friend to her .

Sutherland was often accompanied on stage or in studios by mentor and husband Richard Bonynge , and regular vocal partners included mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne and the tenor Pavarotti .

Her last stage appearance was with both performers in Act 2 of `` Die Fledermaus '' at The Royal Opera House in London , England 's Covent Garden on December 31 , 1989 .

Her record company credits her with rising to international stardom in 1959 when she appeared in Franco Zefirelli 's Covent Garden production of Donizetti 's `` Lucia di Lammermoor . '' During her career she sang the role of Lucia 233 times .

During the late 1950s and 1960s , she and Bonynge , whom she married in 1954 , were at the forefront of a Handel revival . In 1960 , during Venice , Italy , performances of Handel 's `` Alcina , '' a journalist nicknamed her `` La Stupenda . ''

That same year , Sutherland paid homage to bygone prima donnae when she recorded `` The Art of The Prima Donna , '' and the two-album set became a bestseller and won a Dutch Edison Award in 1961 .

She resurrected a number of forgotten works and gave them new life on the stage and in the recording studio , including Massenet 's `` Le roi de Lahore '' and `` Esclarmonde , '' the latter being a favorite of hers .

During retirement , she mentored young singers and sat as a juror on international signing competitions .

She is survived by her husband ; her son Adam and daughter-in-law Helen ; and two grandchildren , Natasha and Vanya .

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Sutherland won two Grammy Awards , in 1961 and 1981

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She performed often with tenor Luciano Pavarotti

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She sang the role of Lucia in `` Lucia di Lammermoor '' 233 times